Arte Non Vi Prologue
by David-El
Summary: Slight changes lead to a different Harry Potter, one that will eventually join that most dangerous of games: The Game of Thrones. Along the way, he becomes friends with Draco Malfoy, gets Sorted into Slytherin and falls in love, all the while fighting Voldemort, a troublesome Ministry, and a meddling Headmaster.
1. Harry's Wonderous World

**A/N:** This is the first chapter of my first major crossover, combining _Harry Potter_ with the famous series _Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones_. As you will note, things will change drastically in Harry's world before he arrives in Westeros, and unlike many of the stories like this one, he is not coming alone. In fact, this will be VERY unique compared to the other HP/GOT/SOIAF crossover stories, as you will learn. For now, I am only publishing the four part prologue in their respective fandoms in order to gain attention and build suspense for the story, especially as I'm not going to actually publish until I have written my version of the first book/season. Now, each chapter will come with a playlist of songs to go with it, and each chapter name comes from one of those songs.

**By Skill Not Force**

**Prologue I: Harry's Wondrous World**

_Godric's Hollow-October 31, 1991-Lord Voldemort_

Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort watched as that thrice-cursed James Potter passed the boy into his mother's arms and threw his wand onto the couch. Now was the time to strike! The gate creaked as he pushed it open, but Potter paid it no heed, assuming he even heard it. Only when he reached the threshold did Potter notice he was there. The fool attempted to face him, _him_ without a wand! He was dispatched quickly, and without much effort. Voldemort headed upstairs, and easily opened the door, despite the mudblood's attempts to prevent it. Now, to attempt to keep his promise to Severus. "Move aside, girl."

"If you want Harry, you'll have to kill me first," she demanded.

Evans had as much spunk and defiance as he remembered. It really was too bad that his plan didn't allow for muggleborns in the Empire. "Stand aside! One of my faithful has asked for your life, but I must end the threat to my rule!"

"I'm not moving, Voldemort!"

"Stand aside! This is my last warning: move, or die!"

"Then kill me, because I'm not moving!" she insisted.

"Fine then! _Avada Kedavra!_" And with that, Lily Potter nee Evans died. Lord Voldemort took a few steps so he was now facing the toddler in the crib. "So, you're the one prophesied to defeat me, eh? Well, the prophecy ends tonight. _Avada Kedavra!_" But because Lily Potter had studied the old magics and cast one spell in particular, her death bought life for Harry, and the Killing Curse rebounded on Voldemort. However, as he had also studied old magics, and split his soul, Voldemort lived on. Instead, one of his anchors, a soul piece kept inside an ancient cup, died in his place, and Voldemort was reduced to a mere spirit instead.

_London-September 1, 2002-Harry Potter_

Harry Potter stared around himself, hardly believing that it was _real_. He was _actually_ standing on Platform 9 3/4! For the past month, Harry had been half-convinced that everything, from the letters up to his friend Draco Malfoy were all part of a _very_ elaborate dream. Yet all around him were other witches and wizards preparing for a year at Hogwarts. He didn't see the distinctive platinum-blond hair of Draco, but he was certain that he'd find his friend on the train.

Sure enough, as soon as he got inside the train (with the help of Fred and George Weasley, a pair of twins) he heard a voice call out "Harry!" He turned, and was quickly embraced by his blond friend. "How are you doing?"

"Great, now that I'm here. I can still hardly believe it's real."

"Believe it, Harry. Now come on, let's find a compartment."

The two friends did so, and Draco continued Harry's lessons on the magical world that he had started that summer over letters. However, they were interrupted when a redhead their own age burst in. "Are you really Harry Potter? I'm Ron Weasley." He seemed friendly to Harry, if enthusiastic and had a bad case of hero-worship. That is, until he laid eyes on Draco. "Great, a _Malfoy_. What are you doing with him, Harry? Everyone knows that you can't trust a Malfoy, they're all Dark Wizards. He's nothing but a junior Death Eater, an evil Slytherin. Some wizarding families are better than others, and you obviously need help to know which to associate with. I can help you there," Weasley finished, offering his hand to Harry.

Harry just glared at the ginger boy. Here, they could have been friends, but insulting Draco? The git of a ginger just insulted a boy he probably didn't even know, Harry's first friend, someone who actually _wanted_ to be his friend _before_ finding out his name! And now he thought that Harry would turn his back on Draco for _him_? "Not a chance, _Weasel_, I can make my own decisions, thank you very much." And with that, Harry threw one of the few hexes he knew, _Ferunculus_ (a boils hex,) at Weasley, throwing the other boy out of the compartment.

Draco stared at Harry in shock. "You know you didn't have to do that, right Harry?"

"Maybe, but you're my friend, Draco, my _first_ friend, and friends look out for each other. Besides, he was bad-mouthing you just because of your family, and I won't stand for that. Hell, I won't stand for anyone bad-mouthing you, _period._ I might even _insist_ on becoming a Slytherin just to make him mad, because I am _not_ going to the same House as him." They sat in silence for a minute, Draco in complete shock at Harry's statement, before Harry asked a question. "Draco, what _is _a Death Eater?"

Draco sighed, really wishing that Harry hadn't asked that. "Harry, a Death Eater is one of You-Know-Who's followers, and while I'm ashamed to admit it, you deserve to know the truth. In a way, Weasley was right, I _am_ a junior Death Eater, my father used to be one."

"WHAT?!"

"Harry, you need to understand something. The Dark Lord . . . he was extremely charismatic, popular, and had some very good ideas. But delving as deep as he did into the Dark Arts, it changed him and he became a complete madman, and it was the madman that killed your parents and tried to kill you. Also, by that time, to leave was death, so those who wanted out couldn't leave. Harry, when you or your parents killed him, you saved more than you know, you saved those who didn't want to be Death Eaters anymore, including my parents."

Draco was so clearly sincere, his voice so impassioned that Harry nearly forgot why he was even mad in the first place. "Thanks for explaining that, Draco."

"So . . . we're still friends?"

"Always, Draco, always."

"You realize that most people won't be happy about this, right? They'll think that I'm turning you Dark, especially if you're sorted into Slytherin."

"Draco my friend, I've stopped listening to what others think of me long ago. Back in the Muggle world, I'm considered to be a dangerous freak, an incurable criminal. If our world thinks the same, well, to hell with them. I'm actually kind of looking forward to Slytherin."

_Slytherin First Year Dorms, Hogwarts-December 21, 2002-Draco Malfoy_

"Draco, wake up! You're never going to believe this!" Harry shouted at his roommate and best friend.

"_Harry_, you know Snape wouldn't approve of a Slytherin acting like this. What'll he do to you?" Draco groaned. Harry had always been more of a morning person than him. He had hoped that, with a lack of classes, (and the fact that both of them had finished their homework,) Harry would have been glad for a chance to sleep in, now that it was the holidays. But _no_, Harry simply had too much energy and spent much of his free time exploring the castle. And now he was going to get both of them in trouble because of what he'd found.

"Believe me, Draco, if Snape knew what I'd found, it would put a smile even on _his_ face. And if your father knew, why, he'd lavish me with gifts that I don't want. I'm going to be the envy of every Slytherin in the castle!"

_ That_ statement got Draco's attention. There were very few things that could cause Harry's stature to rise more than it already had in Slytherin House, what with him being the Boy-Who-Lived, youngest Seeker in a century, _and_ a Parselmouth. (That last they'd accidentally discovered when a runespoor accidentally wandered into Hogwarts. Luckily, only Slytherins were there to notice that incident, and by the end of the day, every Slytherin had known about Harry's gift.) Draco's extreme curiosity, his one weakness, made him decide to follow, despite wanting to sleep in. But when Harry led him to a haunted girl's loo, Draco started to question his friend's sanity. "Umm, Harry, what are we doing here?"

"You're going to just_ love_ this, Draco," Harry said as he went up to the sink. "Watch this. _Heyshahassa_," the brunette hissed at the sink. Then to the shock and amazement of the pureblood, the sink _sank into the floor_, revealing a large pipe that was at least ten feet wide.

"A large pipe, what's so amazing about that?"

"It's not the pipe, it's what's at the bottom that's impressive. Now, do you want to slide, or climb down?"

Draco laughed and jumped down the pipe. Once he was down, he looked around, but saw only hundreds of different little animal skeletons, and what looked like a large cave. "What's so impressive here, Harry? I thought there was something impressive down here."

Harry came down a set of stairs and said "Keep walking, Draco. Trust me, you _won't _be disappointed."

Confused, Draco kept walking, wincing at the sound of crunching bones beneath his feet. He'd only been walking five minutes when he froze in fear. "Ha-Ha-Harry, what is that?" he stammered, pointing at a large, poisonous green skin.

"That is a snakeskin, Draco. I thought you would know that."

"Well _obviously_ it's a snakeskin, but _what kind_ of snake shed that? It's enormous!"

"Eithne said that she's a basilisk," Harry said, sounding almost _excited_ about it!

"A _basilisk?!_ You're taking me to meet a bloody _basilisk?!_ Are you mad?"

"Nope, besides, Eithne isn't just _any_ basilisk. She's Salazar's own basilisk."

That last sentence brought Draco up short. "_Salazar's_ basilisk? As in Salazar _Slytherin's_ basilisk?"

"Who else?"

"You're taking _me_ to Salazar Slytherin's _basilisk_? You're taking me to Salazar Slytherin's _Chamber of Secrets_?"

"It's _my_ Chamber of Secrets now, but yeah, it was built by Salazar Slytherin. _Heyshahassa_," Harry hissed again, this time at a stone door with four snakes carved into it, all of them with emeralds for eyes. After he hissed, a fifth snake slithered around a circle, making the original four retract, and the door opened. Before them was a large, impressive chamber with the bust of an old man with an enormous beard. On either side of the walkway were enormous snake statues.

"Harry, this is . . . this is _amazing!_ But where is this Eithne?" Harry just gave his blond friend a wicked smirk and hissed again, this time much longer than any had heard him before. The bust opened it's mouth and an enormous snake slithered out of it. Draco gazed at the basilisk, speculating. "Has she laid any eggs yet?"

Eithne hissed something and Harry gave a grin. "Not only has she laid eggs, but she intends to let me have one. Hey, did you know that basilisks can lay fertile eggs whenever they wish, and that those eggs can lay for centuries, if their parent wishes?"

"How is that possible?" Draco asked as they headed deeper into the Chamber of Secrets and towards Eithne's nest.

"Apparently they reproduce asexually, they don't need a mate to reproduce."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Draco asked, while Harry picked an egg the same colours as their House crest.

_Night of Wednesday-Thursday, May 28-29, 2003-Draco_

Harry and Draco finally managed to enter the final chamber protecting the Philosopher's Stone, only to find Quirinius Quirrell, standing in front of the Mirror of Erised. "I knew it."

"Mr Malfoy? Well now, this _is_ a surprise. I expected Potter, but not you. But then again, you two always were clever students, truly deserving of the high scores I gave you in the final, and far too close to each other. But . . . you two are far _too_ clever, and I cannot allow you to interfere tonight." And with a snap of his fingers, the two boys were bound with ropes that seemed to come from nowhere.

Despite the burning in his scar, Harry couldn't help but be impressed. "Wordless, wandless conjuring and binding? You have help, don't you? Your 'friend' is who made you beg a few days ago, isn't it?"

"As I said, far too clever for your own good, Mr Potter."

"And Snape was on to you the whole time, that's why he went to the Cerberus on Halloween, and why he confronted you after Harry's second Quidditch match."

"Yes he was, Mr Malfoy," said Quirrell idly, walking around the mirror to look at the back. "Halloween was a complete and total bloody disaster. Not only did I not get a chance to see the defences, but the dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off and you killed my troll! Why did you even save that mudblood know-it-all anyway?"

Harry and Draco shared a grin. "Draco asked me that same question, and I'll tell you what I told him. Hermione reminds me of what I've heard about my mum: talented, smart, muggleborn, Gryffindor, and teased for it. I won't allow _anyone_ to hurt her. Now, what about Snape? Is he working with you?"

"Not a chance. He managed to save your life during your first match by muttering a little counter-curse. I'd have still managed it if it weren't for that mudblood. After the match, he was trying to find out how far I'd got. As you guessed, he suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me — as though he could, when I had the Dark Lord on my side…"

"The Dark Lord is here?!" Draco asked in a shrill voice, now on the edge of panic.

"He is with me wherever I go," said Quirrell quietly. "Now, how do I work this mirror? Is the Stone inside? Must I break the mirror? Help me, master!"

To Harry and Draco's sudden horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself. "Ussse the boy... Ussse the boy..." It was a low, dry voice, dusty like a snake's hiss.

"Yes, that could work," Quirrell said, and he levitated Harry over, not even giving him the chance to refuse. "Now, tell me, what do you see?" He saw his reflection, pale but determined at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at him. It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone. It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket — and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his real pocket. Somehow — incredibly —he'd gotten the Stone. "Well? What do you see?"

Harry blanked his mind, and thought of a believable lie. "I'm standing over the corpse of a wizard, it's Voldemort! I've destroyed Voldemort and achieved vengeance for my family."

"Oh, get out of the way, Potter! At least I see the Stone when I look at it!"

Harry fell to the ground, but luckily, the fall knocked his wand loose, and it rolled into his hand. Gripping his wand, Harry decided to try out one of the Parselmagic spells that the duo had found in a book from the Chamber. "_Hanaysa_," he whispered, and the ropes fell from around him, and to his surprise, Draco.

Harry immediately got up to check on Draco, but he froze halfway there when the raspy voice spoke again. "He lies . . . he lies."

"Potter, tell me the truth! What did you see?" Quirrell shouted.

"Never, you bastard!" Harry shouted back.

"Let me ssspeak to him, faccce to faccce," the voice said again.

"Master, you are not strong enough yet."

"I have strength enough . . . for thisss." Frozen by curiosity, Harry watched as Quirrell unwrapped his turban, only to reveal a second face on the back of his head! The second face was bone-pale with the thinnest nose Harry had ever seen, only barely more than slits, and blood-red eyes, truly the face of evil. "Harry Potter, we meet again. You see what I've become? See what I must do to survive? Live off another as a mere parasite. Unicorn blood has sustained me for these past nine months, but it cannot give me a body of my own. However, there is something that can. Something that, conveniently enough, lies in your pocket. Why suffer a horrific death when you can join me and live? And Draco, your father already serves me, why not you as well?

"Never!" Harry shouted, while Draco shouted out "Not a chance!"

"Bravery. Your parents had it too, Harry. Your father put up a courageous fight, but your mother need not have died, she was trying to protect you. Speaking of them, tell me, Harry, would you like to see your mother and father again? Together, we can bring them back. All I ask is for something in return."

"You want this?" Harry asked, pulling the Stone out of his pocket. "Sorry, but you can't have it! _Harayssa_!" he hissed out. And with a burst of teal light, the only Philosopher's Stone in existence was destroyed.

"NO! Kill him!" Quirrell flew at Harry and grabbed his throat, planning on choking him, but his hand started smoking. Quirrell pulled back in horror as his hand turned to dust. "What is this magic?!"

"Fool! Curse him!" Quirrell raised his wand to do just that, but Harry quickly disarmed him with his favourite spell, _Expelliarmus_, and then raced up to him and grabbed his face, all despite the pain that threatened to split his forehead in two. Quirrell eventually pulled back in pain, and to the two boy's shock, Quirrell turned to stone, which then cracked, turned to dust, and then collapsed, leaving only his cloak behind.

Harry quickly turned away to release Draco, and the other Slytherin asked "How did you do that, Harry?"

"Don't ask me, all I did was touch him."

"Hmm, something for your girlfriend to research this sum-Harry, look out!" Harry turned, only to see Voldemort's wraith rising from Quirrell's ashes and rush towards him. Harry dodged to the side, but the wraith still passed through him, and Harry collapsed, his magical core completely exhausted. Draco attempted to rouse him every way he knew, but Harry remained unconscious, so he levitated his friend out of the room and, once he had reunited with the others, and the three of them took Harry to the Hospital Wing. However, he received a surprise when he made it to the chess room, in the form of Headmaster Dumbledore. "You see this, Headmaster? This is what happens when you put your other duties above that of this school! No wonder my father wants you sacked!" Dumbledore just stared after the Malfoy heir in shock as the blonde rushed past him.

_Chambers of Secrets, Hogwarts-May 15, 2004-Harry_

More than six months after the bastard thief commandeered _his _basilisk, Harry finally had Tom Marvolo Riddle right where he wanted him: inside the Chamber of Secrets. Six months of fear and mistrust, six months of worrying that Hermione might be next and he could do nothing to stop it. Five months of being hated and reviled after his gift was publicly revealed at the duelling club, five months of worrying that the next attack from the Gryffindors or the Hufflepuffs would be fatal. Four months of his baby basilisk, Medusa being threatened for no reason. Harry had known from the beginning that this false claimant was Voldemort, and that he would need to steal the life from a student in order to truly return, and so, taking a cue from the sea creature every Slytherin learned about in their first week, he waited. Harry bided his time, saving his strength and learning every single duelling spell he could, preparing for just this moment.

And now the moment was here. Not only had Voldemort, aka Tom Riddle petrified _HIS _Hermione, he had also abducted the sister of his archrival Ron Weasley. And to truly hurt him, Marv had also kidnapped Draco! Harry went down to the Chamber, and prepared himself for the worst.

Inside, Harry found Ginny lying on the ground, unconscious with that damnable Dark diary lying on her belly. Next to her, bound and gagged was Draco, and a ghostly, young Marv standing over him. "Hello, _Voldemort_, how nice to see you. But I'm afraid that you're going to leave, very soon."

"You're not surprised to see me here?" Riddle asked, completely in shock.

"I _am _a Slytherin, and I realized what that diary of yours was as soon as I found it. Really, Marv, dabbling in soul magic at your age? A Horcrux? You truly are a psychopath. Besides, Voldemort isn't that impressive of an anagram."

"You're too smart to live. But first, who are you?"

"And here I though you were smart, Marv. You killed my parents to get to me, and as a result, I became the most famous orphan in Albion, and you little more than a parasite. I am Harry James Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, Scion to House Potter and _I am Lord Slytherin_," he finished with a hiss. Instantly, the Chamber shuddered, the ancient Parselmagic shifted, and a silver ring appeared on Harry's middle finger.

"Good, then you will die, Potter, just as soon as I find something out."

"Don't tell him anything, Harry!" Draco called out, having finally managed to remove the gag.

"Thanks for the advice, but I doubt telling this bastard son of a Muggle and a near-Squib will hurt anything. What do you want to know, Marv?"

"How is it that you, a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent, managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar while Lord Voldemort was reduced to a mere shade? And how did you claim the title of Lord Slytherin?"

"Well now, _that_ is an interesting story," Harry said, leaning up against one of the serpent statues, completely calm and at ease. "You see, once I heard that House Slytherin was the only house in Albion that speaks Parseltongue, I became confused. When I spoke Parseltongue, no one could understand me, so I obviously couldn't have inherited the ability from my dad. James was a pureblood, so if I'd inherited it from him, all the other purebloods should have understood me. So, I wrote to Gringotts. As it turns out, the Evans family is descended from a Squib grandson of Salazar Slytherin. And it seems as I'm a more worthy descendant than you. When did you discover this place, anyway?"

"At the end of my fifth year, why?"

"And you started attacking Muggleborns the next year, until Dippet threatened to close the school. When you heard that, you framed Hagrid and sent our ancestors beauty back to sleep. You _must_ have been desperate to frame him. Any fool should have realized that he, a Hufflepuff half-breed, couldn't be the Heir of Slytherin," Harry said, mocking him. "I found this place last year, as Draco can confirm." Riddle stared in shock and confusion, especially after Draco told the tale of how Harry had brought him down there that Christmas. "As to how I beat you, no one knows anything, except for the fact that my mother didn't have to die, and you killed her because she wouldn't move away from me."

"Hmm, maybe I _was_ a fool. Sacrificial protection is extremely powerful blood magic. Maybe there is nothing special about you, but I doubt it. You must have noticed how similar we are. Both half-bloods, orphans raised by Muggles. Both sorted into Slytherin and Slytherin by blood, probably two of the only Parselmouths to have come here since Salazar himself. We even look something alike. Why not join me?"

Harry stared at him in shock and confusion before bursting out in laughter. "You killed my parents, tortured Draco's, petrified **my Hermione**, you'd kill all the Muggleborns, why should I support you, bastard? No, _I will kill you, Voldemort, and all who are still loyal to you. I will bring honour back to the name of Slytherin, I swear it_." With that oath, a bright light flashed, and when it disappeared a weapon lay at Harry's feet. "Wicked," Harry said as he picked it up. It looked like a fusion of a spear and an axe with a small spike at the base, and the blades of the topmost weapons were far larger than the average blade of either. And to make it even more 'wicked,' there was a large, thick hammer opposite the axe blade. The shaft of the weapon was a beautiful, emerald green, and all four of the weapons were a perfect, unblemished silver colour._*******_

"That is _definitely_ a wicked glaive, Harry. Use it!" Draco told his friend.

Harry agreed, but first hissed to Eithne, bringing her out, and having her drop some venom onto the blade. "Now you die, Marv," Harry said, as he swung the glaive at the apparition's neck. Instantly, Tom Riddle fell, and the apparition was destroyed in a burst of flames. To make certain that he couldn't return again, Harry then drove the point of the glaive into the diary, and it also burst into flames, destroying it forever.

_Slytherin Second Year Dorms, Hogwarts-May 22, 2004-Harry_

A week after he had destroyed the apparition/Horcrux of Tom Riddle (as Harry had confirmed the diary being,) he and Draco were now digging into the mysterious glaive, which Harry was currently keeping in his trunk. Due to the danger of the basilisk venom which was now infused in the blade, Harry was also keeping it in a case Lucius had made for it, once Harry and Draco had a duplicate made so he could get the right size. Both were certain that the blade was connected to Salazar Slytherin in some way, but they had yet to find out how.

"Harry, I've found it!" Draco finally proclaimed. He set down an enormous book with the title _The History of the Great Warlocks of Albion and Their Weapons-From the Fall of Rome to the Norman Invasion_. "Read here," Draco said, pointing at a particular section.

It read: _Sheara was the famous glaive, or poleaxe of Salazar Slytherin. Not only did he enchant it, as most warlocks did, but he worked to make it the most dangerous blade in history. Lord Slytherin used the famous practices of the Damascus blacksmiths to make it stronger and sharper, and the Goblin-style in order for it to infuse it with anything that made the blade stronger, and invulnerable. But there was one other way that Lord Slytherin knew of to make it truly the most dangerous weapon in history. He went to Kilgarrah, one of the last of the Great Dragons, and convinced him to breathe his fire onto Sheara. With that last enchantment, the glaive gained the ability to destroy the magical beings believed immortal, including the reanimated dead. Later, to make certain that the blade could never be turned against him, he enchanted it so that only the rightful Lord Slytherin could wield the blade. To make certain that none could mistake the glaive for any other, the shaft of the blade was as green as emeralds, and the blades looked as if they were made of silver, to match the colours of his sigil and the crest of his Hogwarts house. Also, to this day, rumours have persisted that suggest that not only did Salazar use the greatest smithing secrets to make the blade, but also the rare, expensive and nigh on indestructible metal known as mithril._

"The glaive of Salazar Slytherin himself!" Harry whispered reverently.

"And made of mithril as well, there's no topping that! What does the name mean? I'm assuming that it's a word in Parseltongue?" Draco asked.

"Defend, my friend. _Sheara _means defend," Harry explained.

_Wizengamot, Ministry of Magic, London-February 15, 2005-Lucius Malfoy_

Lucius Malfoy was relieved. After months of debate, Umbridge's werewolf law had finally been beaten, and he had been given permission to write his own, one that was far kinder to the werewolves than the under-secretary's law. "Now that that is done, do any of you have other business to be brought before the Wizengamot?" Dumbledore asked, the weekends being one of the few times that he was able to perform his duties as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.

Lucius smirked, that was the perfect opening. "I move for a Vote of No Confidence in Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore as Chief Warlock."

"On what grounds?" Robert Wood demanded.

Lucius had expected an objection, especially from someone who was solidly in Dumbledore's camp, like Wood was. "For many reasons, all of them surrounding a single person. And that single person is important enough to all of us that the level of mistreatment given to him by Dumbledore will ensure that most of you will agree with me."

"Who?" Septimus Weasley asked.

"Scion Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived," Lucius said. Immediately, Dumbledore paled, and Lucius knew that the centenarian was worried about what he had learned. "As many of you know, I have become Harry's unofficial guardian ever since my son, Draco, became his best friend-"

"The Wizengamot will not make your guardianship of Harry official, if that's what you hope to accomplish, Lord Malfoy," Dumbledore said.

"Actually, if you _are_ removed as Chief Warlock, I'm _certain_ that I won't be Harry's guardian, and neither will the _Muggles_ you placed him with," Lucius finished. At that one word, the entire Wizengamot started whispering-why had the Boy-Who-Lived gone to Muggles? "The first reason to remove you is your actions following the deaths of the Potters. Within hours of their death, you sealed the Potters wills so tightly that not even Harry can view them, and he knows this."

"How does he know?" Augusta Longbottom asked.

"Because Harry tried to look at the wills this past summer, not long after his birthday, Dowager Longbottom. Following the sealing of the Potter's wills, our _esteemed_ Chief Warlock then placed Harry in the home of his only Muggle relatives, the sister of Lady Lily Evans Potter and her family. Based on what Harry has told my family and I, there could hardly have been a worse choice, as the Dursley's are the worst sort of Muggles. While they know that our world exists, they hate us as much as Uther Pendragon did, and would _beat_ our saviour whenever he used some accidental magic." Lucius paused there so that the Wizengamot could absorb the fact that the most famous person in the magical world had been _abused_ by his _Muggle_ relatives. There were few crimes more hated in the magical world than child abuse.

After a couple of minutes of the muttering, Lucius started again. "Then we come to the matter of extreme incompetence when it comes to your handling of Hogwarts in recent years. You _stole_ the Philosopher's Stone from Nicolas Flamel and placed it in Hogwarts to set up a trap for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, a trap which not only _failed_, but put innocent students, _our children and grandchildren_ at risk! When a forest troll got inside the Hogwarts dungeon, you deliberately sent half the students straight towards it!" The muttering started again, louder and far more dangerous than it ever had. "It was only due to the quick thinking and actions of Harry, a mere _first year_ that you managed to avert those disasters. Last year, a _basilisk_ roamed the halls of Hogwarts, petrifying nearly a dozen beings and spirits and you did _nothing_ to stop it! Again, it was only due to the cunning actions of Harry that Hogwarts is open this year!"

Dolores Umbridge spoke up at those accusations. "Hem hem. Lord Malfoy, so silly of me, but you make it sound like You-Know-Who is still alive. Foolishness, I know, as you _must_ know that he is dead."

"Unfortunately he is _not_, Madame Umbridge. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named truly deserves the title of Dark Lord, as he has delved deeper into the Dark Arts than many of his predecessors. He has even delved into the most forbidden of Dark Arts to ensure his immortality: Soul Magic. It was because of an item enchanted using Soul Magic that the basilisk roamed Hogwarts last year. Fortunately Harry managed to utterly destroy it," Lucius explained. "Now, getting back to the Vote of No Confidence, I have saved the worst for last." The muttering began again, what could be worse than child abuse?

"We elected Dumbledore because we believed he would be best to ensure justice was done in the Wizengamot after decades of corruption. However, under his administration, we have seen a kind of corruption that should have never been seen. Again, this corruption surrounds Harry Potter and those close to him, in this case, his godfather, Lord Sirius Black." Another commotion broke out, but this time Lucius stopped it. "I know many of you believe him guilty of betraying the Potters and the grisly murders of thirteen people, but _that_ is the _core_ of the moral corruption that has occurred under Dumbledore!

"Thirteen years ago, after Sirius Black was arrested, Barty Crouch Sr. threw Black into Azkaban _without a trial!_ Sirius had already inherited the title of Lord Black, yet he was still thrown to the Dementors without a trial! To make things worse, the order was countersigned by Dumbledore!" That accusation shut everyone up, while Dumbledore attempted to rise and stop Lucius. "Sit down, Dumbledore! Now, only last week, Fudge ordered the Dementors to _Kiss_ Lord Black on sight, and again, the order was countersigned by Dumbledore! Do we as a nation now execute our citizens, our _nobility_ without so much as a trial?"

"How do you know there was no trial?" Amelia Bones asked.

"Quite simple, Madame Bones. As I said, I've become Harry's unofficial guardian, and he has come to see me as an uncle-like figure, so he came to me to ask about Lord Black's supposed crimes. When I told him what we as a country believed to be the truth, Harry asked what his motives were for betraying Lord Potter. I have to admit that I was curious about that myself, so I looked for the transcripts of the trial. I went to nearly everyone in the DMLE short of you and discovered nothing related to a trial. The only things I found were the report on his arrest and the order to have Lord Black thrown into Azkaban. With this knowledge, I move for a Vote of No Confidence in Chief Warlock Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

Instantly the Wizengamot chambers were filled with the roars of arguments, until the chant started. "VOTE NOW! VOTE NOW!" Eventually the deathly pale Dumbledore called for a vote, and when the vote was counted, less than half a dozen of Dumbledore's most fervent supporters voted to keep him as Chief Warlock. Lucius grinned, that was another win for him in this most dangerous of games. In the break following the fateful vote, Lucius quietly slipped into Amelia Bones' office and offered his services as a spy inside the Death Eater ranks for the DMLE, when Voldemort returned.

_*******_ I would love it if someone would draw the blade as I described it. I must admit that I got the idea for the description from a glaive drawn by a Chris Behncke, but the picture is gone now. I would be very willing to send a copy of the original to any wishing for the inspiration, though!

**Chapter Playlist:**

Prologue (Philosopher's Stone

Lily's Theme

Platform 9 3/4

Harry's Wondrous World

Chamber of Secrets

Face of Voldemort

Meeting Tom Riddle

Reunion of Friends

Ministry of Magic

Senate (Star Wars: Phantom Menace)


	2. I Will Not Bow

**A/N:** Well, in celebration of my 26th birthday, you're getting a present: an update for this, and hopefully _Thanks to the Basilisk _and _Tabula Rasa_! For this story, there will probably be two more chapters for the prologue, after that, this will not be updated again, as I will be working on the post-war chapters, and they will be part of the main story. Now, _Arte Non Vi/By Skill Not Force_, the full story, will not be published until I have written up to the beginning of Game of Thrones, i.e. the expedition beyond the Wall by Ser Waymar Royce, Will and Gared.

**By Skill Not Force**

**Prologue II: I Will Not Bow**

_422nd Quidditch World Cup, Dover-August 2, 2005-Draco Malfoy_

"Can you believe we're really here?" Harry asked excitedly. Draco just grinned at his best friend, glad to see him acting his age again. After the revelations of the previous year, Harry had been extremely tense, even after Sirius' trial. Before the trial, it had been a tenseness born of a desire for revenge, which quickly led to him becoming the most dangerous duellist in Slytherin, and probably the entire school. After the trial it was born of worry and fear of his own godfather, one that would only fade after Harry got to know his godfather, something that Draco was only too happy to help his friend with. "This is going to be great!" Harry said, bringing Draco back to the present.

"Yes, it is Mr Potter. Now, would you mind if I talk to my son alone?" Lucius said. Harry gave a quick nod and ran off to find Hermione, who had been invited by the infamous jokesters of Gryffindor, the Weasley Twins. Lucius then poured two glasses of wine, and offered one to Draco. Draco looked to his father in shock and confusion, he had never been offered wine before. "Drink up, you deserve it after this last year. I must say that I was shocked, but pleased when you asked to learn how to manage our businesses and accounts, Draco."

Taking a sip of the wine, and finding he liked the taste, he explained to his father. "Harry has told me what happens to some Muggles when they come into large amounts of money. Because they don't know how to manage it, they become paupers just as quickly as they became rich. I don't want that to happen to me, I want to be able to not only manage my money, but make it work for me, to grow and multiply."

"You are making me very proud, Draco, especially as it seems to me that you've found the love of your life already." Draco looked at his father in confusion. "Harry Potter," Lucius explained.

Draco gaped at him before bursting into laughter. "Me and Harry? Father, trust me when I say we're both straight. And you have _clearly_ never heard Harry talk about or seen him with Hermione Granger." Lucius raised his eyebrow, so Draco explained. "Watch him with her and you'll understand the difference between the love we share and the love _they_ share. Trust me, father, you'll see that our love is just a stronger version of the love you share with Uncle Xeno."

"If you insist, Draco. Now, about your dreams of making money work for you, here's some ideas . . ."

By the end of the World Cup, Draco knew his father now believed him about Harry. There was no way that one could watch those two together and _not_ understand that they were madly in love with each other, especially after Harry's complete lack of reaction to the Veela thanks to Hermione. Draco had just told Harry about his dad's thoughts about their relationship when Lucius burst in their room. "Boys, get out and run for the woods."

"Father, what's going on?"

"Some of my old . . . compatriots went and got drunk and are causing a riot. Now run, and watch out for your friends, especially Miss Granger. They'd love to get their hands on her." With that last warning, he ran out to join those trying to stop the Death Eaters.

Draco quickly grabbed his wand and was about to leave when he realized that Harry wasn't behind him. "Harry, come on! We need to get out of here! What's taking so long?"

"I can't find my wand, Draco! I know I had it when we left for the match but it's gone!"

Draco was worried. If there was one thing that he had managed to impress on Harry, it was to have your wand on you at all times. "We'll find it later, now let's go!"

As soon as they left the tent, they saw Sirius and Lucius outside, running towards the commotion. Sirius quickly spotted them and said "Boys, get to the woods, now! Leave the fight to us!" Together, the two friends ran through the campsite, but were forced apart when they encountered the panicked mob.

After a few minutes, Draco had safely made it to the woods, where someone was waiting for him. "So, Malfoy, why aren't you _celebrating_ with your parents?" There, not ten feet away stood Ron Weasley, Draco and Harry's number one enemy at Hogwarts, as he had been since that fateful day on the train nearly three years ago. The quintessential Gryffindor, claiming to be solidly Light, hated _all_ Slytherins, no matter what, the first to proclaim Harry Dark for anything he did, and a Muggle-lover. In short, he was everything that both Harry and Draco despised.

"And just what do you think we'd be celebrating, _Weasel?_" Draco asked, using a nickname he knew Weasley hated. Then he noticed who was near Weasley: a particular muggleborn Gryffindor that was easily identified by her bushy brown hair. "Hermione? What are you doing with _him?_ Why didn't you come to the game with us?" Draco was shocked to see her anywhere _near_ Weasel, especially as he had been the reason her life had been threatened by the troll nearly three years ago.

"Well, I'd have gone with you, if you'd asked first, Draco. But the twins asked on the train ride home. Hey, where's Harry? I thought he'd be with you?"

"What are you talking about? Of course he's with-" But when Draco turned around, Harry wasn't there. "NO! Hermione, would you come with me to find him?" Without a second of hesitation, Hermione joined him, and they started calling out for Harry while retracing Draco's steps. By the time they returned to the campgrounds where the riot had started, it was deserted, and felt more like a graveyard, especially with the mists and skeletons of tents covering the ground.

Then, from the midst of the graveyard, near where they finally found Harry (who had been knocked unconscious by the crowd,) someone called out "MORSMORDE!" And with that, a giant green skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth appeared. As soon as the symbol was completed, 20 POPs sounded, and Harry pulled his friends down just as they all sounded out "Stupefy!"

"STOP! That's my son there, you blithering idiots!" Lucius' voice called out. "I thought I told you to stay in the woods," he reprimanded them, while hugging Draco close.

"Which of you conjured it?" Barty Crouch Sr demanded, waving his wand in front of them. "Which of you conjured the Dark Mark?!"

"It wasn't us!" Draco insisted.

"Do not lie! You were caught at the scene of the crime!"

To Draco's shock Harry stepped in front of Crouch and nearly lost his temper with him. "You _dare_ accuse _us_ of conjuring the Dark Mark? Do you know who I am?! I lost my parents to that bastard, and have sworn myself to his destruction, no matter the cost! Hermione here is a _muggleborn_ for Merlin's sake, she'd be high on Voldemort's hit list! Draco here, I trust with my life, and have on several occasions! So find yourselves some other scapegoat, _Crouch_, and leave my friends and family out of it! If I hear so much as a _hint_ of you accusing me, my friends, or Sirius of such things ever again, I'll destroy you, do you understand?" Reluctantly, Crouch backed down, and they departed in peace after summoning Harry's wand from Crouch's house-elf.

_Hogwarts Great Hall-October 31, 2005-Hermione_

For once, Hermione sat with all her friends, Slytherin and Gryffindor alike, as they watched and waited for the Goblet of Fire to make its choice of champions known in the dim room. She was perfectly happy tonight, partly because her friends were all beside her, and partly because she knew that this year, Harry would have nothing to worry about except getting good grades. With the age-line guarding the Goblet, and Harry promising that he wasn't interested, he was finally safe from any misadventures for a year. In First Year, there was the threat against the Philosopher's Stone (which they all believed was a set-up,) Second Year had the Chamber of Secrets reopened, and last year the 'threat' from Sirius and the very real threat of the Dementors.

As they watched, Viktor Krum was chosen from Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons, and finally Cedric Diggory from Hogwarts. "Excellent!" Dumbledore called out to the assembled students. "We now have our three champions. But in the end, only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory, the Tri-Wizard Cup!" But the celebration was cut short, as first Snape, then others noticed that the Goblet wasn't done spitting names, and Hermione had a bad feeling about whose name was about to come out.

Sure enough, it was Harry's name that the Goblet shot out, and as soon as the commotion died down, Hermione, Neville Longbottom, the Weasley Twins, Draco and Daphne Greengrass ran to their most common meeting room: the Room of Requirement. Harry had discovered it quite by accident in their Second Year while escaping a mob of Gryffindors, and ever since the four friends had used it as their HQ and meeting place. Turning to her friends, Hermione asked, "So, do any of you actually believe that Harry put his name in the Goblet?"

The others all turned and looked at each other, before Fred spoke up. "I almost wish he _had_ put his name in, Hermione. But it's obvious he didn't, and that means Riddle is behind this."

"You're right, Fred. If Harry had simply gotten past the age-line, then his name would have replaced Cedric's, not come out _in addition _to it," Draco stated. "But right now we have two things to do. First, we need to assure Harry that we stand with him. Second, we need to work together in order to find out the tasks and help Harry survive them. There is no way that Riddle wants Harry to survive the Tournament, so we need to do everything we can to make certain he does."

"And what about the rest of the school? They'll certainly see him as a cheater," George asked.

"That's a secondary concern," Daphne said. "We can argue with them for a week and some will still refuse to believe that Harry is innocent. We need to focus on what we can do. If we can convince others, good. If not, then so be it."

_Tournament Arena, Hogwarts Grounds-November 27, 2005-Harry_

Harry watched the other champions paced nervously while he sat as cool as the breeze that blew that day. They were probably nervous about their own strategies to take on the dragons. Personally, Harry couldn't be more secure. All he had to do was keep the dragon busy, while Medusa took care of the rest. Then he heard a whispered "Harry? Are you there?"

Thankful he was sitting next to the wall of the tent, Harry whispered back "Yeah, I'm here. What is it?"

"How are you feeling? Nervous?"

Harry laughed at that. "Hermione, have you _ever_ known a Slytherin to be nervous. I'm _fine_, I promise. And when I say fine, I mean by _your _definition of fine." To prove it, he pulled her into the tent and gave her a hug. "Hermione, lately I've been thinking about the things we've been through, and I don't know if I'd be _alive _if it wasn't for you. I also want to say that I'm sorry-"

"Sorry for what, Harry? What could you possibly need to apologize to me for?"

"For ignoring you and your troubles, for asking so much from you and giving so little. It's so rare that I can be there for you, but you're always there for me. And I want to make it up to you, I want to be there for you whenever you need me."

"Harry, if you're talking about what happened in First Year before we became friends, forget about it. You don't owe me anything. You've helped me lose my selfish pride in being so intelligent and taught me that there's more to life than my books, and I love you for it."

"Maybe I don't owe you, but I still want to be there for you from now on," Harry replied. "Hermione, would you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?"

To say that Hermione was mad would be an understatement. "If you think that I'll be your girlfriend just because you feel guilty, you have another thing coming, Harry James Potter-Slytherin!"

"What?! NO, it's not like that, Hermione! Remember how I avoided you for a few days last week? I had to take a little time to work out my feelings, if I simply felt that I owed you or if I truly loved you, the way my parents loved each other. Do you know what I realized?" Hermione shook her head in the universal sign for 'no.' "I realized that I've been in love with you since at least Second Year. It was out of a desire for vengeance for what Riddle did to _you_ that I destroyed him, not for anything else."

"But Draco-"

"Draco is my best friend and brother in all but blood, that's all. It's _you_ that I truly love, Hermione. Will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" As an answer, she pulled him into a hug and gave him a kiss full on the lips, which was caught by Rita Skeeter, a reporter that Harry absolutely _hated_. Fortunately, she was sent out of the tent by Dumbledore and the rest of the Tournament officials, (though Dumbledore also kicked Hermione out!)

Crouch then gathered the champions and, holding a bag, bid each of them to pick something out of it. As it turned out, the bag held miniature dragons, each with a number around it's neck. Fleur picked out the Welsh Green, Krum got the Chinese Fireball, Diggory the Swedish Short-snout, and Harry grabbed the worst of the lot-the Hungarian Horntail. "These represent four very real dragons," Crouch explained. "Each of which has been given a golden egg to protect amongst its' own. Your objective is simple: collect the golden egg without damaging the real eggs. This you must do, for each egg contains a clue, without which you cannot hope to proceed to the next task. Any questions?"

Cedric was the first to be sent out, then Fleur, and finally Krum. Harry knew why they'd been ordered that way: the Short-snout was the least difficult and dangerous of the dragons, while his own Horntail was the worst, the Tournament organizers wanted to put on a show, so they worked their way up to the most dangerous dragon. Finally, it was his turn, but when they went out, Harry only saw the nest, where was the dragon? _"Back and to the right!"_ Medusa hissed out, and Harry quickly moved out of the way. He quickly found a large rock to hide behind and set Medusa on the ground. _"Now, like we planned, swallow the fake egg, and __**only**__ the fake, understand?"_ Harry hissed to her.

_ "I know, just make certain that the mother serpent of fire and air doesn't notice me,"_ Medusa replied, and she slithered away. Harry grinned at his little basilisk and fired a _Reducto_ near the Horntail. The dragon roared fiercely before launching a wave of fire at him, which Harry countered with a whispered "_Aqua Erecto,_" a water shield that had originally been created to deal with Fiendfyre. For about three minutes, the two exchanged fire, while, unnoticed by the dragon or the crowd, Medusa slithered up to the nest and swallowed the golden egg.

"What is Mr Potter doing?" Ludo Bagman asked. "He has done nothing to move so much as an inch closer to the egg." Yet as he said that, Medusa returned to Harry, and with a quick "_Sachessa_," the dragon fell to the ground, stunned, Harry bent down to allow Medusa to wrap herself around his arm, and the two calmly walked back to safety.

Inside the tent, Crouch stormed towards Harry, demanding to know why he left before he completed the task. "But Mr Crouch, I _have_ completed my task. Medusa here is carrying the golden egg."

"You were not permitted to use pets in the task, Mr Potter!"

"Medusa is not a pet, Mr Crouch, she is my familiar! And I made certain that familiars can be used in the Tournament when I was researching the past Tournaments."

"Harry, may I ask what kind of snake she is?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm surprised you don't recognize her species, Professor. She's a basilisk." At that, the entire room burst into a storm of noise as all nine people in the tent started shouting. Within seconds, both Harry and Medusa were getting headaches from the shouts, so Harry quickly hissed out "_Silassa_," and the room went silent. Merlin, he loved Parselmagic! "Now, one at a time, I am going to let you speak again. Now, _Sassessi_," he hissed, pointing his wand at Crouch.

"Breeding basilisks is a crime punishable by a year in Azkaban! I demand that you tell me where you got it!"

"Crouch, unless you have a way to imprison a man that's been dead for fifteen hundred years, or if you intend on punishing an animal for what it does naturally, you cannot prosecute this. Eithne was hatched by my ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, and Medusa is her daughter."

Dumbledore was next to be unsilenced. "Where did you learn those spells, Mr Potter? Many of those were Auror level or Dark spells."

"Most of them I learned from Professor Moody when he learned that I intend to become a battlemage at the least, the rest from either Draco, Mrs Malfoy or Sirius. Now, any more questions?" They all shook their heads. "Good, then we can move on to the scores and next task."

_Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch-May 27, 2006-Harry_

The four champions and their families walked onto the Quidditch Pitch to the cheers of the crowd, the Hogwarts band playing their March. Dumbledore muttered **"****Sonorous," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands.** "**Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Tri-wizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand. **In first place, with ninety points - Mr. Harry Potter! In second place, with eighty-five points - Mr Cedric Diggory, **both of Hogwarts School!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty points - Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!" More applause. "And in third place – Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!** Now, earlier today, Professor Moody placed the Tri-Wizard Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows it's exact location. The champions will enter the maze in the order of their points. The first person to touch the Cup will be portkeyed back here, and will be declared the winner!

"The professors and Ministry Aurors will be patrolling the border of the maze. Should at any point a contestant wish to withdraw from the task, he or she need only send up red sparks with their wands." Then, cancelling the spell, he gathered the champions together. "Inside the maze, Hagrid has placed many dangerous creatures, but that's not the worst of it. You see, people _change_ in the maze. Oh, find the Cup if you can, but be very wary, you could just lose yourselves along the way." Then he announced the beginning of the task, and like before, Filch fired off the canon just as Dumbledore started the countdown, and so the Final Task began.

As soon as Harry had gotten out of sight of the starting circle, he cast Hermione's Point Me charm, and started off in the direction of the Cup. For a long time, Harry found nothing, not even a flobberworm. This wasn't to say that the maze wasn't challenging, as it would often shift, and Harry had to keep moving, or be swallowed by the walls. Eventually, after all the other Champions had entered the maze, he finally encountered trouble in the form of an easily conquered Confundus Mist. Then he heard Fleur scream from somewhere ahead of him, and when he found her, she was being pulled into the hedges, so he quickly sent up some red sparks before the maze changed shape again.

Just as he was leaving the area though, he found Krum, who immediately pulled his wand on the British celebrity. But as fast as the Bulgarian was, Harry was faster, and he fired off a Parseltongue body-bind before Krum could do anything. Once again, Harry fired off the red sparks before moving on, smirking. Now the Cup was guaranteed to belong to Hogwarts, but Harry wasn't satisfied with that, no Slytherin would be. He wanted the win for himself.

Unfortunately for him, he hit a snag on his way to the win: a sphinx. "**You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me,"** she said.

"And you're not going to just let me past, are you?" She just smiled and shook her head. "Very well, ask your riddle."

"Ah, but to continue, you must answer _three_ riddles."

"Just ask them, blast you!"

"My, you do have a temper, don't you. Very well, here is your first riddle:

I never was, am always to be

No one ever saw me, nor ever will

And yet I am the confidence of all

Who live and breathe on this terrestrial ball."

Harry grinned at that. "That is almost too easy. What else is always to be but the future?"

The sphinx just moved on to the next riddle.

"If you break me,  
I do not stop working.  
If you touch me,  
I may be snared.  
If you lose me,  
Nothing will matter.  
What am I?"

This question had Harry stumped for a few minutes. But with a touch of inspiration realized "What could it be, but your heart?"

Again, the sphinx just moved on to the next riddle.

"The man who builds it doesn't want it,

The man who wants it doesn't use it,

The man who uses it doesn't know he has it,

And never will.

What is it?"

Again the young Slytherin lord was stumped, but again the answer came to him. "What man could use something and not know it, but a dead man? And what does he use other than a coffin or tomb?"

"Well done, young one. You may now pass." Harry then rushed past, and spotted the Cup just beyond. The maze started changing again, and Harry ran, desperate for the win. But as he ran, he noticed that the shifting maze was actually being caused by something moving towards him. When the path crossed his, Harry was shocked to see an Acromantula charging towards him. Without even thinking, he silently cast a spell that Tom's diary had taught him: _Arania Exumai_, and the giant spider was killed, flying back and landing with a crack. To his surprise, he heard someone, probably Diggory, call out in pain, leaving him clear to take the Cup. As soon as he did, he felt the familiar sensation of being hooked behind his navel as he was portkeyed . . .

. . . to a graveyard?! "What the bloody hell is going on here?" Harry asked himself. Just then, he spotted the one person in all the world that he hated more than Voldemort. "_**Pettigrew!**_" he growled out, sounding more like Sirius than normal. The damned traitor was walking towards him with some kind of bundle in his arms. Well, this time he _wasn't_ going to get away! Quickly and silently, Harry cast the one spell he knew would both stop the rat _and_ hurt him, the burning dart curse: _Ardeo_.

Unfortunately for him, Pettigrew managed to dodge the curse, and a voice coming from the bundle said "Stop him from casting again!" With a speed Harry didn't know the rat had, he had bound Harry in chains against a statue of Death. Then, to add insult to injury, Pettigrew _snapped his wand_!

"You had already doomed yourself by running, _Pettigrew_, but I was going to give you the mercy of a quick death. By the time I'm through with you, you'll be _begging_ for death!" Harry swore.

"Oh, shut up Potter!" Pettigrew snarled as dropped the bundle into a cauldron full of a potion. Then he pointed his wand at a tomb, pulled a bone out of it, and sent it to join the potion, all the while chanting "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son." Oddly, the next thing he did was switch wand hands and chanted "Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master." The reason he switched became obvious as he cut off his own hand to let it fall into the potion. Then he a knife and started carving into the skin of Harry's left arm, just above his wrist. The rat then collected some of the blood onto his knife, chanting "Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe." As he turned the knife so the blood flowed into the potion, he said "The Dark Lord will rise again!"

And so he did, the one ugly baby shape quickly taking on the form of an adult human with red eyes and without hair or nose, and the smoke coalesced into a robe in only 30 seconds. A minute after that, he called his other Death Eaters, who immediately apparated there. As he berated them and monlogued, Harry started to plan. He still had a weapon, as he constantly carried Sheara with him and had been training with both Draco and Neville in the use of their ancestral weapons in duels, both with and without magic. It had been a pleasant surprise to find that Sheara could act as a wand if necessary, so Harry had two advantages that Tom didn't know about, and that gave him the advantage.

Finally, Voldemort finished his monologue and turned towards Harry. "Now, it's time for you to die, Harry Potter. I'm going to destroy you. After tonight, no one will ever again question my power. After tonight, if they speak of you, they'll only speak of how you begged for death. And I, being a merciful lord, obliged."

"Good luck with that, I intend to survive this little encounter, Tom." Then, with a quick and silent _Abrecap benda_, the chains shattered, allowing Harry to unshrink the box containing Sheara, which immediately fell to the ground, opening on its own and shooting Sheara up to a height that allowed Harry to catch it. "Now, let's start with you, you damned rat!" He quickly swung the poleaxe around once, charging it with magic, and on the second time around, released it. The magic flew out in an ever-expanding wedge, until it hit Pettigrew, where it immediately sliced an arm off and then continued on to destroy the cauldron used in the ritual.

Voldemort stared in shock at what his nemesis had done. "Impressive, Harry. Do you mind if I take a look at that weapon if I swear that neither I nor my followers will harm you while I have it, and that I will return it?" Harry briefly considered it, then, realizing that Riddle could possibly tell him more about their ancestor's weapon. Tom studied the weapon for several minutes before announcing his findings. "This is the most impressive enchanted weapon I have ever seen! Good English oak enchanted to be unbreakable, goblin-forged, Damascus style mithril blades, with basilisk venom absorbed into the spear point and axe. And enchanted so that only a certain family can use it at all. I'm impressed, Harry. I had no idea Hogwarts had started teaching such techniques, or is it just for you? I may have to raise my opinion of Dumbledore," he finished as he handed it back.

Harry started laughing. "You actually think _I_ enchanted Sheara? Tom old boy, you are _really_ overestimating my abilities! Uncle Lucius, have you been telling tales? No, no, I found this, and am currently one of only two people able to use it, so far as I know."

Despite his shock at the title Harry gave his right hand man, Voldemort was intrigued. "And who is the other, Harry?"

Harry just grinned, and slashed the poleaxe at Macnair while hissing out "_Sachera__!_" The black spell shot out from the spear point and hit the executioner for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, and the man fell dead. Then he turned to the traitor, and hissed out "_Searassa!_" and the rat fell to the ground, screaming in pain. "Good enough for you, Tom?"

Voldemort stared in shock at Harry and what he had done (and was still doing, as Wormtail still shook and screamed in pain.) "Good enough, he asks?! I say we would welcome you into our family, Harry. Join me, join us, and you would be welcome amongst us as no one else will."

Harry just started laughing. "Join you? Like hell I will! I will not bow to a psychopath with delusions of grandeur, especially one who is responsible for all the pain my family has suffered!"

"So be it, Potter. _Crucio_!" Instantly he was filled with the worst pain he had ever known: his bones were on fire, his head splitting even worse than his old scar pains, it was bad enough that he almost wanted to die if it would end the pain. Then the pain ended as abruptly as it had started. "Just a short pause there. That hurt, didn't it, Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?" But Harry didn't answer, he just grabbed Sheara and, using it as a staff, stood back up, defiance shining in his eyes. "I asked whether you want me to do that again, so answer me! Imperio!"

The peaceful bliss of the Imperious Curse flowed over Harry, but if there was one thing Harry had going for him, it was an indomitable will. "I have told you once, and I'll tell you again: I will not bow to you, Tom!"

"What does it take to break you?! I swear, you will bow to me and to death before this war is through!"

"Then let's set the world to burn, Tom, because I'm going to kill you. _Exosso!_" Voldemort moved out of the way of the curse, but what he hadn't known was that he wasn't even the target, as the white curse immediately hit Pettigrew, who had gotten up while Harry was under the Cruciatus. Instantly the black flames of the bone-eating curse started their work, and Pettigrew started screaming in pain again. The Death Eaters scattered as Harry swung Sheara again, and hit Voldemort with a Celtic killing curse. But as Voldemort was newly reborn, it only destroyed his latest soul anchor-his pet serpent: Nagini. With the Death Eaters scattered, and Voldemort reeling from the loss of his Horcrux, Harry ran for the Tri-Wizard Cup and was instantly portkeyed to the entrance of the maze. He had one thing to say: "He's back, Voldemort is back!"

**Chapter Playlist:**

Quidditch World Cup

Dark Mark

Goblet of Fire

Still There for Me-Corbin Bleu

Golden Egg

Hogwarts March

Maze

Voldemort

I Will Not Bow-Breaking Benjamin


End file.
